| 5:13p |
Sounds like a good Destiny's Child song to me
I have a friend called Niccola who totally keeps me sane at work. We met back in the days when we were both university students, and bonded over things such as being bohemian art girls with short hair and liking obscure things. Niccola is now is an art director for a funky little advertising agency in North Sydney, and I'm now an ex-nappychanger who designs goofy pictures that go on pyjamas. While Niccola and I work on different sides of Sydney, we still share our love for all things small and lovely via that wonderful medium known as e-mail. A quick electronic banter along the lines of "I love Polyphonic Spree / I used to want to marry Ben Folds", and both of us are refreshed and ready to pitch ideas and doodle pictures again. And all without having to leave our desks!
And so, it came as a surprise to me last Sunday morning, that Niccola and I had never really hung out together. Sure, we'd shared jokes while we were slumped over our computers at uni, and we'd had rant sessions about the soullessness of corporate design, but we'd never spent time oohing and aahing over pretty things while shopping, or anything girly like that. So we arranged to head out to the lovely Bondi markets. First stop, though, was the VIP area at the Darling Harbour Chinese New Year dragon races. Nichi, being the privileged advertising industry girl that she is, had nabbed two VIP tickets for us both. Upon arrival, we were handed massive lunch boxes with prawns, noodles and cake inside. It was all obviously to sustain hardworking rowers, but hey, we could both have passed off for rowers if we weren't dressed so pretty, right? PLUS, we got these totally yummy apricot nectar, cranberry and cognac cocktails. Hurrah! And it wasn't even midday yet!
After having some very fetching multicoloured dragon tattoos stamped onto our arms, we tripped off to the markets. But alas, due to the rain in the morning, the markets were closed! So to console ourselves, Niccola and I headed over to Boost Juice. If you are a Boost Juice regular, you would know that they ask for your name after you pay for your drink, so they can yell out to you when your drink is ready. "Hey, here's an idea," I whispered furtively to Niccola, "How about we use fake names? I'll be Moonbeam." Nic took to the idea immediately, being the wonderfully creative and good-humoured gal that she is. She decided to call herself Vera. When the girl at the counter was taking my order (a mango crazysomething- they all have funny copy-written names), I could hardly get my order out because I was giggling so much. "And can I get your name, please?" she asked. Unfortunately, my mind had taken a dive towards Conservativeville, and I just couldn't bring myself to pretend that I had uber hippie parents who had given me a weird name. So I chose another name instead. "Rainbow. My name's Rainbow," I told her. AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN FLINCH, as though she came across girls named Rainbow EVERY DAY! I was impressed. While waiting for our juices, Niccola and I giggled like naughty schoolgirls. But the fun ended there. Loudly and clearly, the girl at the counter shouted, "RAINBOW, YOUR DRINK IS READY." And I had to walk up to the counter AS THOUGH MY NAME REALLY WAS RAINBOW. And, as you can tell from the capital letters, it was VERY EMBARRASSING.
Niccola and I then went to the Alannah Hill sale, which was fab, because we both kept picking up the same clothes to try on. It was so funny! But the moral of the story, dear readers? Don't lie about your name. Being naughty ain't all it's cracked up to be, because in the end, people look at you funny and wonder if people call you "Rain" or "Bow" for short. Now I know why those Destiny's Child girls got such a big hit out of "Say My Name"- suddenly, the name "Carla" sounded like music to my ears. It also makes me have second thoughts about calling my future children weird names, e.g. Elvis.
Until next time, dear readers. |